The Gospel calls us to something deeper — allowing our hearts to be conformed to Christ
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“I beg you not to show me a misplaced kindness.” These words, spoken by St. Ignatius of Antioch on his way to martyrdom, offer a critique and a challenge to us today.
“Misplaced kindness” is a good description of contemporary culture, which tells us: “You’re basically good. So, if you follow your desires, everything will turn out OK.” Even if we grant that the point is kindly meant, we can know that the kindness is misplaced for several reasons.
First, because we know — in our heart of hearts — that our desires are a mix of good and evil.
Second, because culture has been encouraging this pattern for decades, and “following our desires” is not turning out all right.
Third, because this isn’t what Jesus told us. He didn’t have to take on flesh and go to the cross because we’re basically OK. He did so because we need to be rescued. And He told us: You need to die to self and be configured to me. That will be glorious, but sometimes it’s going to hurt.
There are two questions all of us need to ask.
1) Is this (whatever “this” is) consistent with my desires?
2) Is it consistent with the Gospels? We won’t live a whole-hearted discipleship without asking both of those questions. But we also have to get their order right!
Contemporary culture proposes that if something is consistent with our desires but inconsistent with the Gospels, the Gospels need to be set aside. Whole-hearted discipleship reverses the order. If something is inconsistent with the Gospel, but we want it — something like adultery or stealing or excessive drinking — then our actions can’t bow to our desires. Note: That doesn’t erase the desires! We have to acknowledge them. But then we take them to the cross and let our hearts be conformed to Christ — and that’s where discipleship sometimes hurts. Only when something is consistent with the Gospels — like marriage or priesthood, or being a doctor or a teacher — do we ask the next question: Do I want it? That’s when discernment comes into play.
Good coaching takes us beyond our comfort zone to bring us into excellence. Discipleship does the same. Over and over in the Gospels, Jesus says to us what great coaches say to us: “I want more from you, because I want more for you.”
On Mount Carmel, the prophet Elijah set up a test with the prophets of Baal. Elijah was massively outnumbered 450 to 1! But he set up two altars with a sacrifice and challenged the prophets of Baal: Let’s both call upon our gods. The God who answers with fire and consumes the sacrifice is the true God.
We might perform a similar test in our own lives. If we take the proposal of contemporary culture — following our desires and setting aside the Gospel — how does it go? Is it really satisfying? I think not. In fact, this is basically Dante’s description of Hell in The Divine Comedy: We’re consumed by our own desires.
By contrast, St. Lawrence Justinian holds up the example of Mary: “She was not led by her own senses, nor by her own will; thus she accomplished outwardly, through her body, what wisdom from within gave her faith … Imitate her, O faithful soul.” If we try living like that — allowing our hearts to be configured to Christ’s Sacred Heart — God will answer by placing His fire in our lives.
